Peter M. Last

RANTS AND RAMBLES

• • DISCLAIMER: When I review books, weaknesses and inconsistencies tend to dominate my discussion; therefore, I will emphasize that any particular rant (and, yes, they can be long-winded) does not have special bearing on my unified opinion of the book. For this, please refer to my overall star rating. Additionally, this review is my personal opinion, intended to help like-minded readers navigate the plethora of available options. Use it as a tool but do not assign undue importance to it (i.e. feel free to disagree with me).

  • The grammar, sentence structure, and readability of this book are hampered in several ways. First, awkward run-on sentences show up periodically. Second, in dialogue, the number of contractions not found makes the conversations feel clunky and wooden, harming the ability to be immersed in this story.

  • I mentioned the interesting world of this story as a plus and it is one of the stronger points of the book. An entire culture of mythical creatures, some familiar and others less so, lurks just beneath the surface of society in Georgia. They have sub-cultures, an economic system, gangs, law enforcement of a sort, and much more. At times, though, I couldn’t escape the feeling that this world, despite its expansiveness, felt a bit flat. I believe this is due to the breakneck pace of the story and the lack of world development done by Dan in this volume.

  • One reason I had a difficult time settling on a rating for this story was the cognitive dissonance which it produced. In this case, it was caused by incompatibilities (or at least perceived incompatibilities) in the book. The cover, for example, looks like it was made to attract a teenage or young adult audience. The writing style also seems to fit this category best. Nevertheless, the book is definitely not appropriate for that audience. Gratuitous, graphic violence, mature elements, and strong foul language feel more in line with adult literature than the look and quality of the book would indicate.

  • Obie is a shapeshifter with the ability to turn into an otter. I’m not really sure why because he only does this once or maybe twice in the book. In fact, when turning into his “true form” when inside an otherworldly club, he changes to krasis, a kind of anthropomorphic otter (shown on the book’s cover) complete with over-defined muscles. This is the form Obie takes most often. It doesn’t make a lot of sense that he can turn fully into an otter, and it feels like something Ben thought would be cool but never really committed to.

  • Mild Spoilers: How did the elves get to be so well-established as a nation? Where do their shockingly modern and very expensive weapons come from? They are not, cannot be, recognized as a nation due to the fact that they hide from the world. The queen has banned magic for whatever reason, so that is out as a potential source of income and power. How do they survive as anything more than clans scratching out a living in the mountains? I certainly don’t know.

  • Spoilers: One thing I really liked was the conclusion of the plot line to save Naylet. When Obie was ultimately not able to save her, it felt correct, a bit of a downer for sure, but consistent with what came before. To bring her back would have felt like a gimmicky happy ending. Part of what made me want, even expect, this plot line to end in failure was that Obie is clearly fighting a losing battle. He is holding onto a lost dream even though everything he learns tells him it is a lost cause. That feeling builds over the course of the story and to circumvent it with a “happy” ending would have been a cheap move. Fortunately, Ben has the guts to keep the best ending.

  • Spoilers: Characters in this novel are okay, but many were underdeveloped and some are inconsistent at times. The first point is pretty self-explanatory and is evident when you can describe characters in one sentence stereotypes. Like the gruff mentor who comes out of retirement (and secretly likes his student all along despite his gruff exterior). Or the slightly slimy politician who just wants to get re-elected. Or the new blood who is cocky, overconfident, but has potential. Or the love interest who, well, that’s it. And these are just a few of the examples. The problem is not that characters fill these basic roles but that what you just read tells you almost everything about them. There is no depth, no nuance, and nothing to make them stand out. The issue of inconsistent characters is relegated mostly to Obie (the others do not have enough depth or “screen time” to be inconsistent). First, he goes on a sub-plot across the book to save his love interest despite everything he knows and learns telling him the task is impossible. And this from a being who is hundreds of years old and who should know better. But he was in love, and love make you believe and do irrational things, right? True, and I could accept this with proper character development, but there is not time for that stuff. The book did not do a good job of convincing me of any meaningful relationship nor to develop Naylet so I would care about her. My apathy toward her character was superimposed on Obie (perhaps disingenuously), so it was impossible for me to see why he, ever pragmatic and old enough to be wise, refused to accept the inevitable. All because I did not see or buy the love which supposedly drove him. And beyond this inability to accept fate, he also makes plenty of decisions which are suspect at best, and the arguments he uses to justify these decisions are naïve and ridiculous. For example, he needs a soul stone from the elf queen so he makes a deal with her for any favor called in at a future date and that if hostilities break out between the elves and Otis (the leader of another group in this world), Obie will side with the queen. He even recognizes that this is not a deal he should make but does so because “Otis wasn’t going to…break the peace so having either one of them to side with shouldn’t be an issue.” This after he already has seen that the queen is likely to stir up trouble herself. Plus, he knows there is little chance of saving Naylet, even with a soul stone. The thing is, this could have worked by properly selling Naylet and Obie’s relationship. If it was clear he loved her more than anything, bad decisions and a million-to-one odds would make sense, but it doesn’t stick here.